endowed
Americanadjective
-
supported by a permanent fund or source of income.
A cooperative owned by 50 families set up the endowed scholarship in 2000.
-
naturally possessing a certain quality, talent, physical feature, or other advantage, especially a sexually attractive feature.
She bunched up the blouse behind her to look at herself and sighed at her modestly endowed body.
Countries far less endowed than ours have made greater economic progress through greater coherence and unity of purpose.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of endowed
Explanation
When you're stuck on a really tricky math problem, you might ask your best friend for help, especially if she happens to be endowed with impressive mathematical skills. Endowed means "provided or equipped with." When you have a special ability, you can say you're endowed with it. You can also be endowed with a quality, like beauty. Endowed is often used to describe something you're born with, though it can also refer to something that's been learned. Endowed traditionally meant "provided with money," especially when it came to a woman's dowry, the money she brought into a marriage. It's still used this way when someone donates, or endows, money to an institution.
Vocabulary lists containing endowed
Vocabulary to Describe Literary Devices
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That practice must end, because it is a "complete devaluation of the resource that is so fortunately endowed in places like Nigeria and other countries," he told BBC Focus on Africa.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
It is far too soon to say what ways the fabulous new Bowl sound system, which happens to be AI endowed, might become friend and/or foe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
The 1994 tournament also gave birth to Major League Soccer, the largest first-division league in the world, and endowed a foundation that has funded grassroots soccer development for more than a generation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
It cannot be said that betrayal has endowed Delery with Tragic Dignity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
They were not wholly of the American aristocracy but tolerably close, with connections and affluence that endowed Alfred with upper-class tastes and bearing.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.